Flying Without Wings
by LightSpirit
Summary: My fourth oneshot fic and sequel to 'What Hurts The Most'. While trying to rescue Laura, Smithy is shot and seriously wounded. Is he really going to die when a face from the past returns after his most painful memory flashes before him?


**Flying Without Wings**

It had been a very traumatising time at Sun Hill. The discovery that Laura was a mother after giving birth to a baby boy just nine months earlier had come as a shock to everyone at the station, but they were able to accept this. Laura had a baby with her first boyfriend and named him Dale after Smithy, for after everything Kerry had told her about him, she decided to name her first son after Smithy as well as naming her first daughter after Kerry. But shortly after Dale was born, Laura's heartless mother Martha stole her baby grandson away from his mother and sold him to a married couple she knew who had been trying so hard to start a family. Laura was devastated and broke down even more. However a few weeks earlier, Laura discovered that the very couple who bought her baby were in London and demanded that they give him back to her but they refused. When Laura explained everything to Smithy, he stood in to help her and she managed to win her son back. Her father accepted his grandson with open arms and Laura even made Smithy his uncle, but she decided to take action against her mother and pressed charges against her for kidnap and black market. This crime cost her job and she went completely off the rails. Determined for revenge, she kidnapped her daughter and held her hostage in a warehouse beside the Thames. There, she tortured the poor girl over how she had 'ruined' her life from the very beginning. When Smithy discovered what had happened to Laura, he organised a raid to rescue her with the help of Inspector Gina Gold, Superintendent John Heaton and DCI Jack Meadows. Smithy arrived first on the scene and found Laura alive and tied up to a chair. But as he very quickly untied her, Martha appeared with a gun. She held them both at gunpoint and expressed more of her views on how they lived their lives.

* * *

Smithy attempted to calm Martha down by talking to her gently but all of a sudden, she accused him of pushing her too far and out of nowhere pulled the trigger and shot him. Smithy fell backwards onto the ground; Laura looked in sheer panic at him.

"NO!!" She screamed. "Smithy!"

She ran to him, knelt down beside him and took him into her arms. Martha suddenly realised what she had done and fled the scene in terror, but Laura was too distracted to chase after her. Smithy lay there in her arms gasping for breath and heavily bleeding from the shot wound to the chest. Laura kept talking to him, hoping it would keep him awake.

"Oh god! Oh no! Smithy, Smithy? Oh god help somebody help! Smithy? Smithy? Smithy, Smithy look at me, look at me Smithy, look at me! Look at me! Look at me! Keep looking at me! Don't close your eyes!"

_**Everybody's looking for that something  
One thing that makes it all complete  
You'll find it in the strangest places  
Places you never knew it could be**_

_**  
**_When Laura spoke those words, they sounded very familiar to Smithy and he remembered why. It was then that the most painful memory of his life flashed before his eyes - Kerry's death. The gunshot that went off was heard, all the words said to each other were spoken, the sight of Kerry gasping for breath and bleeding to death from a hole in the chest caused by a bullet as Smithy held her in his arms and the journey to the hospital in the ambulance van were seen and the voice of the doctor pronouncing Kerry dead was spoken. Smithy felt that this was a sign - maybe it was saying that his time to die. He looked back at Laura.

**_Some find it in the face of their children  
Some find it in their lover's eyes  
Who can deny the joy it brings  
When you've found that special thing  
You're flying without wings_**

"Laura…" He managed to speak.

"I'm here, I'm here!" Laura assured him. "It's okay, it's okay I'm here."

"Laura… I want you… to promise… that you'll… do something… for me because… I'm not going to make it…"

The weak smile on Laura's face died away. She couldn't believe what he had just said.

"No, no of course you're going to make it! Don't say that! We just have to get you cleaned up and get you to hospital and you'll be okay!" She told im and then called out for help again. "Oh god help! Please!"

**_Some find it sharing every morning  
Some in their solitary lives  
You'll find it in the words of others  
A simple line can make you laugh or cry_**

"No Laura… promise…"

He stopped talking for a moment for he needed more breath.

"Promise what?"

"Promise… that when I'm gone… you'll bury me… beside Kerry…"

Laura shook her head in disbelief; he was actually making a final request.

"No Smithy please don't talk like that! We'll get you…"

"Promise me… please…"

Laura could see just how serious he was as she looked into his eyes; she could see very clearly that he wanted her to something for him for a reason.

"I promise."

_**You'll find it in the deepest friendship  
The kind you cherish all your life  
And when you know how much that means  
You've found that special thing  
You're flying without wings**_

Smithy began to close his eyes.

"Hey, hey… you're gonna be okay Smithy! You're gonna be okay, I won't let you go."

"I… I'm so cold… just… like Kerry…"

Laura's eyes filled with tears; was he really going to die?

"But you can't be going! What I am going to do without you?"

"You'll be fine." Smithy assured her with a weak smile. "You're strong… you know that. Take care… of your dad… and Dale. They need you… and I need you… to take good care of them. Can you do that?"

"Yeah, I can." Laura answered, tears were falling from her eyes. "And I'll do that. But this can't be goodbye!"

"I wish… I wish… Kerry was here…"

"I know you do. So do I."

As Smithy laid his head back and closed his eyes again, a soft familiar voice suddenly spoke out.

"Smithy."

Both Smithy and Laura heard the voice. Laura looked around but there was no one there. Smithy opened his eyes and looked in front of him; his wish had come true for there stood the very person he wanted more than anything and always had - Kerry. She walked towards him and was smiling at him.

_**So, impossible as they may seem  
You've got to fight for every dream  
Cos who's to know which one you let go  
Would have made you complete**_

"I'm here Smithy, I'm here."

She knelt down beside him while he didn't take his eyes off her. Laura heard her talking but she couldn't see her, but she was starting to figure out why - it must've been because Kerry had come back for Smithy.

"Kerry!" Smithy gasped. "You… came back! Please… stay with me!"

"Shush it's alright, I won't leave you not this time. I promise. I've come back to take you home with me."

Smithy looked slightly confused.

"Home? Where?"

Kerry smiled warmly.

"Where I've been watching over you all this time, where we will always be together again and no one will separate us ever."

Smithy managed to smile back.

"That's all I've ever wanted - to be with you. I love you so much Kerry."

"I love you too Smithy."

_**Well, for me it's waking up beside you  
To watch the sunrise on your face  
To know that I can say I love you  
In any given time or place  
**_

Laura was of course to the conversation and realised that there was no mistake - Smithy was dying and there was nothing she could do. But she could see what was the best option for him.

"Smithy… go on, go with her." Laura said as tears fell from her eyes. "Although, I'm really going to miss you!"

"I'll… miss you too… Laura…" He said smiling weakly. "But… I can't… stay here."

"I know." Laura then turned to look right in front of her, even though she couldn't see anyone. "And Kerry, I miss you too." She only wanted to talk to ehr sister. "I can't see you, but I can hear you. And I know that you two will be so happy together. That's the way it always should've been."

Kerry smiled at her little sister.

"I miss you too. Thank you."

"Yeah Laura…" Smithy said. "Thanks for… everything…"

Laura smiled at her dying 'brother-in-law'.

"No thank you for everything."

She kissed him goodbye on the forehead.

"Now go Smithy, go with Kerry. Go, go."

Smithy then looked back at Kerry. As she stood up, he reached out his hand to her.

_"_Kerry…" He gasped while fighting for enough breath to talk. "Take me… with you… please… Kerry…"

"Shush Smithy it's alright…" Kerry said sincerely. "Just take my hand."

Kerry reached out and took Smithy's hand in hers. As soon as he touched her, he died. His risen hand dropped, his eyes closed and his head dropped to face the side. He was gone. Laura could only cradle his lifeless body as more tears poured down her face.

_**It's little things that only I know  
Those are the things that make you mine  
And it's like flying without wings  
Cos you're my special thing  
I'm flying without wings**_

"Goodbye." She whispered and she cried as she hugged him.

As she cried over him, she was interrupted by the arrival of the other members of the Force. Uniform officers including Gina, Tony, Callum, Sally, Ben and Nate and CID officers including Jack, Neil, Terry, Will, Max and Stuart rushed into the room with SO19 and were all horrified to see Laura cradling Smithy in her arms. They could instantly tell from the blood on his shirt that he was wounded and it was when they approached, they approached that Laura told them what had happened. They couldn't believe that Smithy was dead.

_**And you're the place my life begins  
And you'll be where it ends**_

But something was rising out of the warehouse and up into the sky beyond the clouds. When the sun appeared, there was a bright light and two hands appeared being held by each other. It was Kerry and Smithy. They were in the exact positions as they were when Smithy had died, but they were wearing different clothes and were in a different place - Kerry was wearing a pink summer dress and Smithy was wearing a t-shirt, a light jacket and trousers. As Kerry helped Smithy to his feet, he saw that they both on a deserted but beautiful beach and then he realised where they were - in their own part of Heaven. They both knew that after so much waiting for so long, they finally together again. Smiling and overcome with joy, Smithy pulled Kerry into his embrace and they shared a passionate kiss. It was in the afterlife yes, but Kerry and Smithy were finally reunited and knew that nothing would ever part them for in this peaceful and happy place, they would now be together forever and would be able live the life they knew they would've had together if they had never been parted.

_**I'm flying without wings  
And that's the joy you bring  
I'm flying without wings**_

**The End**


End file.
